Make gingerbread mermaids

 

Makes 12-15 mermaids

You will need:

• 225g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 heaped tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 50g butter
• 100g soft brown sugar
• 100g golden syrup
• Writing icing in three or more colours

Method

1. Start by drawing out your mermaid template on a piece of card. You can either draw this freehand or draw around the top half of a gingerbread man cutter and add a mermaid’s tail to the bottom. Cut out the template and put to one side.

2. Place the butter, sugar and syrup in a saucepan and cook over a low heat until dissolved. Set aside and allow to cool.

 

3. Meanwhile, sieve the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and cinnamon into a large bowl.

4. Once the sugar mixture is cooled, mix it into the dry ingredients to form a dough. Wrap your dough in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 30 mins.

 

5. Pre-heat your oven to 190C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

6. Lightly dust your work surface with flour, then roll out the dough to approximately 0.5cm thickness. Use your template to cut out the gingerbread mermaid shapes, then re-roll any off-cuts and repeat.

 7. Place your gingerbread mermaids on the lined trays, allowing space for them to spread. Cook for 7-8 mins, then remove from the oven and leave to cool.

 8. Once your gingerbread mermaids are cooled, you can decorate them with the icing. We used one colour to draw the outline of each mermaid’s tail, then added shells, hair and a face in different colours.